One Man Pleads Guilty To Murder As Trial Begins For County Pair Daryl Glasco's Plea Gives Him A Life Sentence. If Convicted, Gary Brown Could Get The Death Penalty.

By Barbara Boyer, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Posted: September 24, 1998

For a ``fistful'' of cash and a small amount of marijuana, two Chester County men were ``cold-heartedly'' shot execution-style and left to die in a Toyota Corolla, Deputy District Attorney Steve Kelly told a jury yesterday.

In the weeks to come, Kelly said, he would prove that Daryl L. Glasco, 24, of West Chester and Gary Brown, 25, of Coatesville took turns shooting Ty D. Sacksith, 23, of Coatesville and Saysana ``Sayse'' Laomoi, 16, of West Chester on June 1, 1997.

But it took only a few hours of presenting evidence before Glasco decided to plead guilty to second-degree murder and accept life in prison. Had he gone through with the trial, Glasco faced the possibility of a first-degree murder conviction and a death sentence. His plea guarantees him a life sentence.

The trial, however, will resume for Brown, who is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and is facing a possible death sentence.

Kelly said during opening statements that Glasco and Brown planned a robbery to steal marijuana and money. But when they got in the car, he said, the plan turned to murder.

``It was these two defendants, Gary Brown and Daryl Glasco, who planned and executed the murder,'' Kelly said during the first day of trial.

Defense attorneys, however, said Glasco and Brown are presumed innocent and predicted earlier in the day that Kelly would not be able to prove the pair committed the killings.

``We're going to demonstrate that Mr. Kelly is overselling his case,'' said Laurence Harmelin, Glasco's attorney. ``This is not a case of first-degree murder, ladies and gentlemen.''

Months ago, the trial was set to begin but was postponed when Glasco gave a surprise confession to prosecutors. Initially, authorities believed Brown had shot both victims. Glasco, according to court records, had told investigators he witnessed the first killing, ran from the car, and heard several other shots fired.

Authorities made a deal with Glasco. They agreed to reduce the charges against him to third-degree murder and accept a 25-year prison sentence if he testified truthfully against Brown.

This year, when Glasco was brought into the District Attorney's Office, he told authorities a new version of what happened, confessing that he had fired the first shot into the back of Laomoi's head and passed the gun to Glasco, who shot Sacksith, court records show.

Shocked that Glasco had confessed that he shot Laomoi, prosecutors reneged on the deal. Common Pleas Judge James P. MacElree ruled that they could not use the confession at trial, but allowed prosecutors to seek first-degree murder convictions and the death penalty.

It's a circumstantial case, Kelly told the jury yesterday. But the evidence, he said, will clearly show that the slayings were ``intentional and deliberate'' and that Glasco and Brown were the killers.

Glasco, Kelly said, was sitting behind Laomoi, who was in the front passenger's seat, when he lifted the .38-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver, placed his hand on the headrest with the barrel of the gun pressed against Laomoi's head, and pulled the trigger.

Laomoi was shot two more times in the neck, Kelly said. Glasco passed the gun to Brown, who drew on Sacksith as he remained in the driver's seat of his teal Toyota, and shot him at close range in the back of the head, Kelly said.

Inside the car, authorities said, they found Glasco's bloody fingerprints behind the driver's seat; Brown's fingerprints were found on the passenger's side.

Police later found the murder weapon in Brown's home and a .38-caliber ammunition box with Glasco's fingerprints on it, Kelly said. Authorities said they also found clothes worn by Glasco and Brown with the victims' blood on them.

Brown's attorney, Sheryl Willson, said that prosecutors would put on a lengthy case but that it did not mean Brown was guilty.

``It's not the quantity of what's presented, it's the quality of what's presented,'' Willson said. ``Mr. Brown is going to tell you he is not guilty of these murders.''